Seeing David Ortiz recover from injury by playing rehab assignments for the Paw Sox is one of the great things about Major League Baseball, I love it when a future Hall-of-Famer hits a 400 foot shot off of a 20 year-old kid. That’s similarly what I was hoping would happen with Rajon Rondo, as it was initially reported that part of the rehab for his torn ACL was to play for Maine Red Claws of the NBDL.

However, it appears that he’s no longer going to mess around and get a triple-double versus subpar NBA-talent. He was supposed to play on Tuesday when the Red Claws played in the D-League Showcase in Reno, Nev. Danny Ainge stated to the Boston Herald that Rondo changed his mind at the last minute:

“The initial decision, we were told, was that he would play (Tuesday),” Ainge told the Herald,

“but the (Celtics) had a great practice in Denver (on Monday) and I guess he wanted to stay with the team after that.”

The D-League was partially created for situations like this, to help guys rehab back like MLB. The rules for getting sent to the D-League were modeled after getting designated for assignment as players with three or more years of experience must consent to being assigned down. Playing for the Red Claws was reportedly Rondo’s idea so it’s kind of interesting that he’s now deciding to back off, which indicates to me that he must be REALLY close to returning.

Hindsight being 20-20, Rondo’s probably wishing he was in Reno on Tuesday to avoid witnessing that 31-point Tank-A-Paloza shellacking at the hands of the Nuggets. I wish he decided to play for them, imagine that backcourt for the Red Claws… MarShon Brooks and Rondo… easily greatest in NBDL history. Good thing though is if Rondo changes his mind again, the Red Claws have a game Friday night in Santa Cruz which is a stone’s throw from where the big club will be playing the Golden State Warriors.